1983 300D Bangs When you Come To A Fast Stop

[1971 280SE]

Hello all, I am new to to the diesel benz world..I am hoping someone can give me some advice.. I am interested in a car on craigslist that has 370K miles..It seems to run wonderful, but when you come to a stop sign too fast it makes a banging noise from the rear of the car..The owner said he took the car to 2 different mechanics and they told him it was the "Glides" in the rear end..whatever the heck that is..he said they told him its not much to worry about..But my question for you veteran guys is, has any one ever heard of something called "glides' in relation to a 83 300D? I thank you for any input...

[cooljjay]

There isn't anything called glides.....it could be anything rear axles, sway bar links, rear subframe mounts....rear deferential mount.....exhaust.....you will need to inspect it.....or post some good photos and maybe we could point to a certain area...

Here's a good video...

Rear Suspension Component Location & Troubleshooting for Mercedes Benz 1968-1991 - YouTube

[charmalu]

In the video, he mentions a Rear Differential. Is their a front one?

I must be missing mine.


Charlie

[Skippy]

Fire extinguisher rolling around in the trunk?

[Mesalm]

Transmission slamming downshift.

[jay_bob]

+1

Unless you are really lucky and the noise is from junk in the trunk, it sure sounds like you have something loose in the rear suspension or driveline.

Getting a pre purchase inspection from a reputable indy would likely reveal the problem in short order once the car is up in the air. If you are serious about the car it would be $100-$150 well spent.

[kerry]

X2 on the pop bottle in the trunk.

[Junkman]

On 70s era Datsuns it was almost always the diff &/or trans mount.

What else is wrong with the car that you'd have to fix for you to be happy with it as a DD?

Can you get it in the ar before deciding?

Rust? Price?

[jay_bob]

Depending on where the car has lived its life, being a 123, it can be hiding lots of rust. You don't have your location shown so we don't know where you are from. Also a CL car could have lived its life anywhere in the country before.

Unless you know for a fact that car has been garaged and kept in a dry state like California or Arizona its whole life, rust is going to be a very real possibility with a W123 chassis.

A thorough underbody inspection is vital with these cars. Part of the inspection needs to be a thorough prodding/poking/tapping all areas under the car for hidden rust under the coating.

These cars were built with non-galvanized steel. Their corrosion protection comprised of paint and tar coatings. The floor pans are especially bad because water could get trapped between the layers of internal and external tar coating and rust the steel. You get left with a tar and iron oxide sandwich. Needless to say this is fatal on a unit body.

Not trying to scare you but just passing along lessons learned the hard way. BTDT. My first MB was a 123 and rust was a very real problem on that car.

[1971 280SE]

I and the vehicle are located in the NYC area..Everything works on the car..A/C, door locks, sunroof and so on..Yeah these cars seem to have a tried and true drive train but a pretty lousy body...The majority of them are in bad shape as far as rust if u live anywhere besides the southwest..

[Codifex Maximus]

Hmm... If you check, and there's nothing in the trunk banging...

I would be real careful. As others have said, it could be any number of things.

I'm thinking differential mount, exhaust hangers. maybe loose shocks, worn half axles.

Would subframe bushings being bad cause this banging?

[Skippy]

I was driving my 300D through Kansas on a cross country trip once and noticed a banging noise with some scrapping sounds. I pulled over and did some checking and found all four muffler hangers were missing. Luckily a PO had installed some coat hanger wire in place of one of the hangers, so my exhaust system remained in place for the remainder of the trip. Could be something that simple. Or not. YMMV.

[davidlee]

Originally Posted by jay_bob

Depending on where the car has lived its life, being a 123, it can be hiding lots of rust. You don't have your location shown so we don't know where you are from. Also a CL car could have lived its life anywhere in the country before.

Unless you know for a fact that car has been garaged and kept in a dry state like California or Arizona its whole life, rust is going to be a very real possibility with a W123 chassis.

A thorough underbody inspection is vital with these cars. Part of the inspection needs to be a thorough prodding/poking/tapping all areas under the car for hidden rust under the coating.

These cars were built with non-galvanized steel. Their corrosion protection comprised of paint and tar coatings. The floor pans are especially bad because water could get trapped between the layers of internal and external tar coating and rust the steel. You get left with a tar and iron oxide sandwich. Needless to say this is fatal on a unit body.

Not trying to scare you but just passing along lessons learned the hard way. BTDT. My first MB was a 123 and rust was a very real problem on that car.

It rains constantly in Portland OR and rust isnt really a problem here at all on old cars, our super clean air must make up for it LOL.

[junqueyardjim]

Originally Posted by davidlee

It rains constantly in Portland OR and rust isnt really a problem here at all on old cars, our super clean air must make up for it LOL.

That is very true. Water, clean water, is very non corrosive and though it allows a film of rust to develop it takes a very long time to do real structural damage. But add calcium chloride to water and you have a terrible enemy to steel and iron and it will cause real destruction in short order. A lot of street deicing salt is mostly calcium chloride.

[Codifex Maximus]

Originally Posted by davidlee

It rains constantly in Portland OR and rust isnt really a problem here at all on old cars, our super clean air must make up for it LOL.

Gotta love the Pacific Northwest. Just make sure you keep your fuel tank topped off; you never know when you're going to find another filling station while driving in the sticks. I learned this on a leg of a trip from the Pacific coast into Portland. Barely made it on fumes.

Bad muffler hangers can cause some STRANGE noises to come from the rear end of a Mercedes. Amazing how quiet they get after inspection and replacement of those doughnut hangers.